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Sitting on the bridge, I can hear the men talking. My heart is breaking at the thought that they have nothing. Men are proud creatures, have been since the beginning of time when someone decided that they should be able to provide for the little women. I don’t hold to that line of thinking, instead believing that everyone should be able to provide for themselves.
The bitterness in Roberd’s voice causes my gut to churn as memories threaten to swamp me.
“If you want something nice to wear, then you must get it yourself.” He glared at me, hands on his hips.
“How? I don’t have anything.”
“You are young and lithe. You have two strong hands and the skills you have been taught. Girl, you are resourceful. I am sure something will come to you.”
“Akiyra!” Tiri’s voice interrupts my thoughts. “We have company. Would you like it on screen?”
“Yes please.” The view out the window changes to look behind us. There I see a ship that has me shaking in fear. How did they find me? Did Bryce get a message out before he was taken to auction? My hand grips the charm on the cord around my neck, the beak of the small bird skull digging into my hand. “Tiri, can you get us out of here?”
“Not at this time. Would you like me to send a distress signal?”
“NO! No, no one needs to know we are in trouble.” I sit thinking about our options. The ship trailing us is smaller and faster, but unless they have changed things, they have no weapons to speak of. They will have to board us. From past experience, I know that means they will have a small crew. With Tiri and the guys help, maybe we can take them over.
“Hey, guys?” I yell down the stairs. “Can you come up here. We have a problem.” Returning to my seat, I pull the map of the solar system up. There is a small moon, Xislunia, that is full day travel from Xistrosie, only about 3 hours from us.
“Tiri, if we can take their ship, could you tow it to Xislunia?” A plan is forming, if we can get everything to work.
“Computing, this will be a few minutes,” he responds as the guys come up the ladder.
“What’s up Akiyra?” Fynn asks, his hands touching my shoulders, massaging the knots that are forming.
It is all I can do to not moan and it takes everything in me to shrug his hands off. “Bryce must have gotten a message off to his master before he was sent to the auctions. Either way, it doesn’t matter. They have found me.”
I can sense the men behind me still, not even a breath of air moves, then they start talking at once.
“Who are they?”
“They will have to get through us!”
“What do you need from us?”
“What do they want with you?”
I raise my hand. “One at a time. We don’t have much time. His name is John Wilde and once upon a time, he owned me. There isn’t enough time now to explain it all, but he wants me dead. That is after I hand over my insurance to never go back to that life.”
The men are quiet for a minute. I bite my lip, waiting for their response. I can’t do this without them.
“What do you need?” Sawyr asks, surprising me. I thought it would have been Fynn or Jax saying something outlandish.
Letting out a breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding, I tell them my plan. “We can’t outrun them. Their ship is smaller and faster than us, but it also has a smaller crew. If he travels how he normally does, then he will be down to three crew members besides himself. He will not risk coming onboard until we are secured, and he will not stay on the ship alone. That leaves two to board us.”
I take a breath and finish in a rush of words, afraid that they will refuse. “Tiri will make it look like something is wrong, allowing them the chance to board us. When that happens, we have to incapacitate them. But we can’t kill them, we are technically still in Xistrosie airspace and if we kill them, then we could possibly be forced to the auctions.”
“Tiri and I can take care of things here, but you five need to deal with them, and I don’t have weapons to give you.”
“Akiyra, there is your weapon,” Tiri breaks through, causing me to grind my teeth. I don’t want to give my weapon up. I don’t know if it is mistrust, fear that they don’t know how to use it or that I will feel naked and less in control without it.
“Tiri, that doesn’t matter unless you can beam the knowledge into us how to use it. Weapons are forbidden on Xistrosie without a very expensive license,” Fynn rubs the back of his head.
“You lack the proper implants to allow that,” Tiri’s condescending tone grates on me. What is his issue? Like the guys had a say in their lives or knew that they would be jumping from a life of slavery to that of being on the run from Wilde.
“Thanks for noting that, “Tobis says dryly. “Really feeling the love Tiri. If you have some knives and poles we can make do.” Then under his breath, he says, “and maybe take those knives to some wires in his room.”
I have to bite my tongue to stop a snigger from escaping. Tiri really has been over the top lately.
“Poles are in closet C5 in the lower level. In that same aisle, there are drawers. Look in d3-6. Take what you need.” Tiri directed, his voice dismissive, then as if an afterthought he says, “the door to my room is keyed to Akiyra’s biometrics. If you touch it, it will result in a loss of control of your bodily function.”
The men are silent for a minute as that sinks in, then they quickly leave with wary glances at the ceiling. Tiri changes to a more conversational tone as he continues. “Akiyra, we can pull their ship but it will be slow and burn up much of our reserve fuel. I do not know if Xislunia will have enough resources to refuel us.”
“We have no choice, Tiri. Unless I can stop John, he will continue to chase me. Can you fake an emergency? Something that stops us in our tracks and allows them to board?”
“Already in motion.” His upper-crust tone sounds smug to me.